Outline, kinda new to Xstitching please help...***PICS ADDED

[Miinii]

wHey all,

Ive almost finished my second Xstitch and as i am stil new to this i have never done an outline.
It is of a row of teddys with a banner underneath to put Nmae, birthdate ect.

Now i have finished all xstitching and am upto the outline however im not sure how to do it and am having trouble finding instructions

Do i just use normal backstitch???

[mags]

Hello and welcome

Yes you can just use back stitch to outline. Ooooh can we see ?

[Jilly]

A peep would be great, Welcome to the forum

[Miinii]

oh thankyou so much for your quick responses......i was sitting here waiting for a reply so i could go do it lol.

With a 3 year old and a 7 month old i only get some night times to do it.

Baby is asleep atm and as printer/scanner is in my room ill have to do it first thing in the morning if i remember lol.

Fingers crossed i dont stuff it up lol

[charmagne_capalad]

Hello!....and...


Hope we can take a peek at your project

Take care!

[Miinii]

OK...so im back lol

I forgot to ask, how many squares do i do at a time??? (hope that makes sense :S )

On the pattern i cant tell if its one continuous stitch across 2 3 4 or 5 squares or if i should stitch one square at a time???

Argh i hope i explained it ok...

P.S Thankyou very much for all you welcomes

[RosemaryH]

OK...so im back lol

I forgot to ask, how many squares do i do at a time??? (hope that makes sense :S )

On the pattern i cant tell if its one continuous stitch across 2 3 4 or 5 squares or if i should stitch one square at a time???

Argh i hope i explained it ok...

P.S Thankyou very much for all you welcomes

Unfortunately there is not one definitive answer to that because it very much depends on the pattern. Some have an edging that goes along the edge of each individual stitch and others have more of a long stitch.

If you could show us a little part of your chart (not the whole thing because of copyright) we would be able to guide you better.

Rosemary

[Miinii]

oh ok...to me it looks like a longer stitch but ill either take a pic or scan a lil of the pattern to show you guys so i can be sure...

Im so glad i found this forum i would be lost without it lol THANKYOU

[~threadbear~]

Welcome to the forum,
I'm looking forward to seeing your work.
I was like you when I first started to do the backstitch on designs for myself, but I think you can see as you go along whether it looks right on that piece or not.
I've done it both ways on different designs and also done them where just on one design some parts need longer stitches and some each per square.
Once you've done it once you'll start to be able to see/judge it.

[nettie]

Welcome to the forum. I use a mixture of square by square and long stitch. If it is a horizontal or vertical line I do it stitch by stitch but if it is a diagonal I tend to do long stitch. I am sure you will find your own way. Personally I hate backstitch n do it as quick as I can to get it out of the way.

[Serinde]

Welcome from the West of Scotland. Outlining makes such a difference to designs. You will be astonished when you see for yourself.

You will know whether to simply backstitch or use slightly longer stitches by looking at the design... and doing what is printed there. Sounds easy, but can be tricky. I'm putting stems on plants in one piece at the moment (in gold, but that's another problem altogether! ). These stitches go up three holes and over one, then up two and over three... I'm boggled by the time I've finished!

[Miinii]

I'm putting stems on plants in one piece at the moment (in gold, but that's another problem altogether! ). These stitches go up three holes and over one, then up two and over three... I'm boggled by the time I've finished!

OH MY lol i would be the same, sound like you would need complete silence when doing that.

Sometimes i mute or pause the telly if im doing something that needs alot of concentration otherwise i just cant do it lol.

Hello to everyone else and thankyou for all your great tips. Im just trying to locate my camera so i can take a pic to show you all

[Miinii]

[Miinii]

Sorry if the pics are too big, photobucket wouldnt work for me so i couldnt resize them. Let me know if they are too big and i will try again.

Also they are blurry cause i had to take them with my fone lol.

To me the stitches look long, would it look more effective to do the stitches one square at a time?

[Rose]

If you do these one stitch at a time you will have a very blocky finish. If you do the longer stitches you will have a smoother finish as the pattern shows. I would do the longer stitches to make my finish look better. You can see how long to make the stitches by following the pattern.

This is a very cute pattern I think I have seen it in some mags.

Thanks for showing us your work. And Welcome on board.

[Miinii]

Oh yay longer stitches mean i finish sooner lol.

So how long is tooo long, some of them look as tho they go rite over about 10 or so at a time. Is this still ok? i was looking at the pattern a minute ago and i think it basically wants you to begin/end your stitch when it changes angle IYKWIM??

[Rose]

If you look closely at the pattern you should see in what holes you will need to stitch in. Sometimes it is very obvious and some times you will have to look very closely and figure out what looks best.

[Busy_B]

Welcome!

As for how long to make your stitches, judge by your pattern. For example, from what I can tell of the part of the bear's face, for the line between the nose and the mouth, here's how I would read it. If I started the outline at the mouth, I would bring the needle through to the front at the mouth then up one block/stitch and over 6 (if I counted right) before taking the needle back through. I usually only make my backstitches long enough to go from point to point on the pattern where the line actually crosses the corner of a block.

Does that make sense?

[Mabel Figworthy]

Welcome to the forum -- hope you'll enjoy your visits here!

I think backstitch is often a matter of taste, but if it's any help I can tell you what I usually do.

1) If it's things like whiskers or flower stems etc, do the longest stitch you possibly can in a straight line (i.e. start a new backstitch only when you have to change direction)

2) For outlines, do the shortest stitch you can in a straight line (i.e. if it goes one to the right and two up, do it as one because there is no "natural hole" in the middle of it; if it goes two to the right and two up, do it as two stitches because there is a "natural hole" after one to the right and 1 up).

Hope this makes sense -- it's not a hard and fast rule for me, if you look at the "outline angel" in my photo gallery you'll see that I've used long stitches in places where I could have made two or more shorter ones -- it all depends on the effect your after!

[charveyron]

Your works really good - I really like forever friends!